Cartels Can Easily Replace Drones Even If They Are Taken Down At The Southern Border, Former DEA Official Says

Cartels in Mexico can easily replace drones even despite local regulations at the pace in which they might be taken down by law enforcement, according to a former top DEA official.

Speaking to Infobae Mexico, former agent Mike Vigil said cartels can "buy a million of these drones and replace them every time they are decommissioned."

He went on to say that these organizations are able to get drones in the black market and actions by the U.S. government to fight them is largely "political theater," which doesn't have a real impact in their structure.

Vigil made the remarks in the context of U.S. authorities shutting down the airspace above El Paso and parts of New Mexico. The decision was initially believed to be a result of the presence of cartel drones in the southern border, although it was later revealed that the object was a party balloon.

The Associated Press noted that Customs and Border Protection used a high-energy laser to shoot down the balloon. It was deployed without coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), leading the agency to shut down the airspace.

Fox News reported on Wednesday that the Pentagon has been testing new counter-drone technology near the Army base at Fort Bliss, including the high-energy laser.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government didn't have any information indicating drone activity along its side of the border. "If the FAA or any U.S. government agency has relevant information, they can ask directly the Government of Mexico," she said.

Both the U.S. and the Mexican government, however, have been warning about an increased use of drones by criminal organizations. As a result, the U.S. and Mexico said they would step up cooperation to deal with the matter.

Elsewhere in the interview, Vigil said cartels mostly use drones to attack each other. "They use them to drop explosives on rival cartels and, at times, against the Mexican armed forces," he noted, adding that devices used to traffic drugs between the U.S. and Mexico are limited because they can only carry two kilos of substances.